Subendothelial stiffness alters endothelial cell traction force generation while exerting a minimal effect on the transcriptome.

ABSTRACT: Endothelial cells respond to changes in subendothelial stiffness by altering their migration and mechanics, but whether those responses are due to transcriptional reprogramming remains largely unknown. We measured traction force generation and also performed gene expression profiling for two endothelial cell types grown in monolayers on soft or stiff matrices: primary human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and immortalized human microvascular endothelial cells (HMEC-1). Both cell types respond to changes in subendothelial stiffness by increasing the traction stresses they exert on stiffer as compared to softer matrices, and exhibit a range of altered protein phosphorylation or protein conformational changes previously implicated in mechanotransduction. However, the transcriptome ha

SUBMITTER: Bastounis EE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6890669 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature